Organisations that want to thrive in the modern world need to prioritise the wellbeing of their most valuable asset – their staff. With the high pressures and the constant demands our fast-paced world puts on people, companies that create a thriving wellness culture will set themselves up to outperform others.1
As it stands, over 15% of people in the UK and Ireland are suffering at work with symptoms of a mental health condition. That’s 1 in 6.8 of your people struggling — right now — to get through their workday, perhaps silently.2
At Cracked, the fruits of our wellbeing programme are already showing. Events like the Cracked Swap Shop where members of the team got to exchange unused clothing and household accessories with others, and our Stretch & Supper – a light introduction to yoga – were huge hits with the team, and regular visits from the fluffy friends of Team Cracked have brightened up even the wettest of English days!
Mental Health First Aider
Offering mental health training to team leaders and management is a great way to not only upskill your workforce but to provide your employees with that immediate mental health support when they’re in working environments. There are a variety of courses available (both online and in-person), though from personal experience, I’d highly recommend the St. John’s Ambulance MHFA course. The training delivered was extensive, thorough, and covered a variety of topics.
Introduce a wellbeing programme
From team challenges to improved ways of working, a wellbeing programme can be constructed using a variety of things. Remember, wellbeing is very subjective, and a one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to be successful amongst employees. Take some time to research and understand what wellbeing approaches your team value and then consider how these could be implemented across the business. A good wellbeing programme will consist of various activations and activities, created to suit different preferences and cover the eight key drivers of wellbeing in the workplace.
Wellbeing handbook
Support your employees by creating a handbook that hosts reliable, trustworthy support routes. From online charities and wellbeing initiatives to apps and digital platforms, there’s a lot of great (and free!) information and support out there for people suffering with bad mental health. Providing your employees with a handbook of this nature not only demonstrates a proactive approach to seeking help when needed but could also be the steer they need to find the support most suited to their circumstance. The handbook could either be printed or uploaded as an e-book to your internal server or portal.
Social events
‘Connecting with others’ is one of the five steps recommended by the NHS to improve wellbeing. With this in mind, social relationships between colleagues will undoubtedly be influencing your employees’ wellbeing. Encourage social bonding and employee engagement by hosting social events, from a coffee and cake event in the office kitchen to a post-work gathering at the local pub. Any event (small or large) should encourage team members to build stronger social relationships with their colleagues, improving employee wellbeing across the board.
Appreciation and value
Showing appreciation for your team, whether that be through verbal praise, peer recognition schemes or financial bonuses, it really does go a long way when it comes to employee wellbeing. Feeling valued at work has been linked to better physical and mental health, as well as higher levels of engagement, satisfaction and motivation so it’s important to recognise this and take a proactive approach to showing appreciation amongst the workforce.3
Looking after the wellbeing of your employees will help their work life balance, positively influencing the mental wellbeing of your team inside and outside of work. Not only will they enjoy work more, but it’ll help bring the wider team together, create a positive company culture, and encourage new connections between co-workers that stretch outside office hours. What’s more, if potential new recruits see that you take wellbeing seriously, it immediately makes your business a more attractive destination.
Sources:
2 Mental Health (link)
3 Investors in people (link)